The Start of Something New (Tyler)

[MICHAEL TATE]

Michael was getting tired of the same old thing everyday that consisted of getting his regular education, sitting at home with his camera, or even sitting in the families funeral home while his grandfather did his work. His grandmother didn’t want him to ever go to work with her, since she worked with the crazies of Rapture and thus it wasn’t a very healthy environment for any minor to be around. Today he decided to hop on the train and took it all the way to Pauper’s Drop, which was basically the poor district of Rapture, not like Mike cared any about how much money people ever had, after all, he use to be considered poor when it was just him and his parents. He rode this train and looked around at the people as he went along, it seemed to take forever, he had to go through a few stations before finally getting there.

He had his camera around his neck ,and he could tell that people admired it, probably because camera’s weren’t a very common thing in Rapture quite yet, but he was middle class and really wanted to be a photographer, so his grandparents got him on for his last birthday. It was around his neck, and also in his hands, and he didn’t trust anyone around him to not steal it. It was literally his most special thing that was most dear to him. The train finally stopped at pauper’s Drop and Mike got out with a few other people, making sure to keep his distance as he reached the platform and scurried ahead of everybody do he wouldn’t be stuck in a crowd. He hated crowds, especially poor people crowds because somebody was always willing to steal whatever looked sellable for cash.

Having such a nice camera like he did, Mike knew he could be targeted for theft. He made his way alone to the Fishbowl Diner, which he remembered was a pretty nice place for a bite, his mother use to take him there all the time. He walked in and looked around, his hands in his pockets and his camera hanging from his neck. He was placed at a table next to a window, looking around. The waitress was a fairly old lady, and also seemed to recognize him from when he came here as a kid, she asked what he had been up to and gave him a extresso on the house. Mike told her about living with the grandparents and coming across his mother a few months ago. She finally had to get back to work and Mike was left alone sitting by himself with the cup of steaming hot expresso in his hands that he couldn’t help but stare at and think, where was his mother now.

[TYLER MONROE]

It was just like any other day down here. Nothing really changed. That was until recently. Just a few days ago Tyler lost his sister. Not to death or anything like that, but she was missing. She just vanished, and Tyler had no idea where she was, which scared him. She could be dead somewhere in a pneumo tube or something for all he knew. For the past few days Tyler had been searching for her, putting up missing signs and such while his dad worked. Today Tyler was going to go to the Fishbowl Diner to see if the owner had seen or heard anything about his sister though. They were pretty much all friends in the poor district, except for the crazies and the people who spliced and such. Luckily, there weren't too many of those at this point. Not yet, anyway. That thought kind of scared Tyler as he entered the Diner.

It was fairly crowded, but there were a few empty booths in the room. He sat in one of them before noticing that the booth he was facing also had just one person sitting in it. That normally wouldn't interest him but he didn't recognize the person in it. It was obvious he didn't live here, because he was carrying a very expensive looking camera. Tyler was wondering why the guy was here, but he was knocked out of his thoughts when the waitress came over to ask him for his order. "Oh, a cup of coffee please," Tyler started. "And eggs and bacon," it was still morning so breakfast was on the menu. Tyler didn't plan on staying long either way, he just wanted to talk to the owner and see if he saw his sister.

[MICHAEL TATE]

Michael Tate looked around as he espresso finally came and he smiled back at the waitress before going over to another table. He looked to see where she was headed and saw her serving a guy that Mike thought for some reason that he knew. After scanning him, he realized just how attractive this guy was. He must have been from around this area, after all, he never saw him anywhere else before. He would have definitely remembered seeing somebody like him in Apollo Square. Mike's eyes stayed on the boy, he for some reason coulnd't seem to take his eyes off him till the other guy noticed. Mike gasped silently and looked back down with a shocked face.

Great, now he was going to embarrass himself?

He sat their for a few more minutes, wanting to see if the other guy was looking over at him, but he was a bit too scared too. He carefully sipped his espresso as he sat their content, looking down at his camera. The waitress and asked Mike about seeing a little girl, apparently a photo was being passed around. Mike took it and recognized the girl, he saw her near the Funeral Home late one night with glowing eyes. She said the boy over there that the boy over there that he was looking at was looking for her. Mike got up and walked over to where he was sitting "Uhm... Hi, I'm Michael Tate. I think I saw your sister..." He said with a hopefully smile.

[TYLER MONROE]

Tyler noticed once the waitress walked away that the boy in front of him was staring, and when he did notice the boy looked away quickly. Tyler frowned, wondering why the boy was staring. Maybe he felt guilty for Tyler or something? For being poor, ofcourse. With as sigh, he (Tyler) put his face in his hands and started to think of the places where his sister could be. That was the hard part, because Rapture was so huge that she could literally be anywhere. And who took her anyway? What if it was one of the rich, fancy people or something? Then he would never get her back! The thought churned Tyler's stomach in all kinds of horrible ways. He couldn't live with that. Why the hell did Dad bring us here? Tyler thought to himself in an angry way. What if they never got her back?

Tyler was, fortunately, distracted from his thoughts when the waitress brought him back his breakfast and coffee. "Thanks...," he muttered in a defeated tone as he took a sip of the hot liquid. He wasn't up to eating, but he knew he had too. Luckily everything here was cheap. He started poking at his food when he heard someone coming. The boy who was watching him had approached and even mentioned his sister! "You have?" Tyler was about ready to burst out of his, he was so happy. "Where? When? Oh please sit down," in his moment of happiness Tyler forgot to be polite. "My name is Tyler Monroe... If you have any information on my sister... Please," Tyler bit his lip in hope.

[MICHAEL TATE]

Mike was pretty nervous at first, having just gone up to the guy he had his eyes on for the past few minutes and now was going up to him and tell him that he saw his missing sister. When he mentioned his sister, he seemed to bounce from mopey to hopeful. The guy was excited, it made Mike feel good that he was helping somebody. He asked a bunch of question in a row before saying he should sit down, "Okay.." Mike said with a breath an he took a seat across from him and interlocked his fingers, resting his hands on the table.

He said his name was Tyler Monroe, it seemed to have fitted him well. Mike nodded, he opened his moth to introduce himself, but then realized he had already done that, so instead he cleared his throat. He told him to please share if he had any information about his sister so Mike nodded "Okay, well, last week I think I saw her. I was at the Twilight Funeral Home, which my family owns. It was late- and I could have sworn that girl from your picture is who I saw. In fact, I took a picture as she was running across, but I don't have it on me." he said regretfully, but he was pretty sure that was the girl.

[TYLER MONROE]

Tyler was glad that the boy had decided to sit down so they could now talk about the disappearance of his sister. Tyler felt like this guy was sent from heaven right now, and it wasn't only because Mike had possibly found his sister. In his moment of happiness, Tyler noticed that the boy was actually attractive, but Tyler wanted to banish those feelings because he figured that the guy wouldn't want to really affiliate with someone of his class level. Tyler and his father were definitely on the poor side of Rapture, and this guy looked like he was much more wealthier than all of this district put together. Still, that didn't matter right now because the boy knew where to find his sister possibly, and that's all that mattered right now. Maybe if the boy was willing to talk to Tyler though, something could happen...

Mike had then started to explain where he had seen the girl, in the Twilight Funeral Homes. That kind of saddened Tyler for a moment, because the Twilight Funeral Homes were in the richer districts of Rapture for the most part. Not to mention, the boy said last week which meant his sister had probably moved on or something. But atleast he knew she was still alive, if it was her. Tyler smiled gratefully when he heard the boy say he had taken a picture. "Oh, do you think you could take me to see the picture?," Tyler asked curiously, obviously indicating that he would have to go to the boys house. "Or... you could possibly bring it here, maybe..." he said with a slight frown, thinking that the boy might not want to be seen with someone of Tyler's status.